Venetian blind cleaning machines



Dec. A17, 1957y Filed Dec. 7. 1954 c. A. PETl-:RsQN 2,816,304 VENETIAN BLIND CLEANING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Ffg E Dec. 17, 1957 c. A. PETERSON VENEIIAN BLIND CLEANING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 7. 1954 ATTO/WY! limited States Patent astma/i Patented Dec. 17, 1957 ffice VENETIAN BLliND CLEANING MACHINES Clarence A. Peterson, Denver, Colo.

Application December 7, 1954, Serial No. 473,547

7 Claims. (Cl. 15-23) This invention relates to a Venetian blind cleaning machine and has for its principal object the provision of a motor-driven multiple brush device which will brush both sides of a plurality of Venetian blind slats simultaneously, and which can be quickly and easily adjusted to accommodate the various slat spacings found in different makes of Venetian blinds.

Another object is to provide a multiple brush Venetian blind cleaning device in which the adjacent brushes will be power driven in opposite directions so that the rotation of the brushes on the opposite sides of the blind slat will counteract each others tractive efforts so that they will not act to force the slats of the blinds in either direction, and to so arrange the brush driving mechanism that the spacing of the brushes can be varied without affecting the transmission of power.

A further object is to provide a Venetian blind cleaning brush which can be used for cleaning both the open portions of the slats and the portions between the supporting tapes and cords of the slats.

Other objects and advantages reside in the detail construction of the invention, which is designed for simplicity, economy and efficiency. These will become more apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof. Like numerals refer to like parts in all views of the drawing and throughout the description.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a top view of the improved Venetian blind cleaning machine.

Fig. 2 is a side view thereof;

Fig. 3 is an outer end View thereof;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary, longitudinal section through the upper extremity of the improved machine; and

Figs. 5 and 6 are similarly enlarged, fragmentary, crosssections, taken on the lines 5-5 and 6 6, respectively, Fig. 3.

Broadly speaking, the device comprises an elongated vertical framework supporting a plurality of verticallyspaced parallel shafts, each shaft being provided with a rotary brush adapted to be passed between the slats of `ra Venetian blind to simultaneously clean both sides of each of a number of slats.

The framework comprises four vertical, parallel bars arranged in rectangular arrangement. Two of the bars, designated on the drawing by the numerals and 12, will be herein referred to as the front frame bars, and the remaining two of the bars, designated by the numerals 11 and 13, will be herein referred to as the rear frame bars. The frame bars 10 and 11 are rigidly secured together in parallel relation by means of a right side plate 14, and the bars 12 and 13 are similarly secured together by means of a left side plate 15. The plates 14 and 15 may be secured to the upright bars in any desired manner such as by means of suitable screws 57.

The frame bars are all similar in structure, and each is provided with a longitudinally extending guide groove 16, the grooves of the bars 10 and 11 are faced toward each other, as are the grooves of the bars 12 and 13. An idler shaft 17 extends between and through the frame bars 12 and 13 adjacent the upper extremities thereof, and a hinge shaft 18 extends between and through the frame bars 10 and 11 adjacent their upper extremities.

A continuous series of lazy tong bars 19 are suspended from the shafts 17 and 18 adjacent the frame bars 11 and 13, and a similar continuous series of lazy tong bars 20 are suspended from these shafts adjacent the frame bars l() and '12. The lazy tong bars are all similar and are pivoted together in pairs at their extremities by means pivot shafts 21 which extend through the overlapping extremities of the lazy tong bars 19, thence through the overlapping extremities of the lazy tong bars 20 and project beyond both the bars 19 and 20 into slidable engagement with the grooves 16.

At the points where the bars of the pairs of lazy tong bars intersect each other, bushing openings 22 are formed in the bars to receive the extremities of a brush shaft bearing bushing 23. The extremities of each bushing 23, where they pass through the openings 22, are reduced in diameter so as to form spacing shoulders 24 on the bushings which act to maintain them in place between the two series of lazy tong bars 19 and 20.

A brush shaft 25 is journalled in and extends through each of the bushings 23. The brush shafts 25 project rearwardly from the series of lazy tong bars 19 and terminate in sprockets 26. The sprockets 26 are maintained in accurate, spaced relation with the bushings 23 by means of tubular spacing sleeves 27 surrounding the shafts 25. The brush shafts 25 also project forwardly from the bushings 23 and terminate in tubular brush socket sleeves 55 which are secured on the extremities of the brush shafts 25 by means of suitable set screws 29. The brush socket sleeves 27 are maintained in accurate spaced relation to the bushings 23 by means of suitable tubular spacers 28.

The brush socket sleeves 55 are designed to receive the Shanks 30 of elongated cylindrical bristle brushes 31, the Shanks being secured in the socket sleeves 55 by means of suitable set screws 32. The brushes are preferably, but not necessarily, of the type formed by bristles clamped between the turns of a double twisted wire shaft.

The sprockets 26 are driven in opposite directions by means of an endless sprocket chain 33 which is driven from a drive sprocket 34. The drive sprocket 34 is rotated through the medium of suitable speed-reducing gears contained within a speed reducer housing 35 which is mounted on the right side plate 14. The speed reducer mechanism is driven from a suitable electric motor 36 also mounted on the right side plate 14 in any desired manner, such as by means of suitable clamping bands 38. The shaft of the motor, indicated at 37 extends to and drives the gears in the speed reducer housing 35. The motor is supplied with current through the usual electrical conductor cord 39.

A iirst idler sprocket 40 is rotatably mounted on the idler shaft 17 and a second idler sprocket 41 is mounted on a movable idler shaft 42. The movable idler shaft 42 is journalled between the extremities of two idler arms 43 which are hingedly mounted on a hinge bolt 44 which extends through and between the two frame bars 12 and 13 at their lower extremities. The movable idler shaft 42 is constantly urged downwardly by means of a suitable tension spring 45 which extends between the shaft 42 and a spring-receiving opening 46 in the bottom of the left side plate 15.

The transmission chain 33 is trained from the drive sprocket 34 around the rst idler sprocket 40, downwardly around the second idler sprocket 41, sidewardly around E the lowermost sprocket,V 26, thence upwardly into engagement with each, of the remainingy sprockets 26, in zig-zag arrangement, so that each sprocket 26 will hold the chain S3 in meshing engagement with the two adjacent sprockets 26,.v From the uppermost. sprocket 26' the chain extends to andaround; the drive sprocket 34.

It can be seen that if the chain 33 is traveling inthe direction of the arrow in Fig. 3, it will rotate the lowermost sprocket 26 and each alternate sprocket above the lowermost sprocket 26 in a counterclockwise direction, and will correspondingly rotatethe intermediate sprockets 26 in a clockwise direction.

In order to; make the device adaptable to Venetian blindsl of various slat spacings, it is only necessary to either move the,Y brush shafts 25 towardy or away from each other to provide, any desired spacing ofy the brush shafts 25. This will act through the lazy tong bars to cause the frame barslti'and 11 tov move toward or-away from theframe bars 12 and i3; The spacing movement may beinitiated in anydesired manner.

Asillustrated' in` the drawing, the spacing movement is accomplished by, means of a threaded jack screw E@ which is threaded through an elongated nut member 49. The nut; member 49 is pivo-tally-mountedA between the crossed upper extremities of two pairs of brace bars 47 and 4S. The bracel bars 47 are hingedV at their lower extremities upon the idler shaft 17 and the brace bars 48 are similarly hinged upon the hinge shaft 18. The lower extremity of the jack screw l) is provided with a terminal flange 56 which is swiveled in a swivel block 51 mounted about the uppermost brush shaft bushing 23. The upper extremity of the jack screw terminates in a wrench receiving head 52 for the reception of any suitable socket wrench device.

It canl be seen that the jack screw 50, when rotated, will force theV nut member 49 in one direction and the uppermost brush Shaft in the opposite direction to cause vertical movement of the latter. This vertical movement is transmitted through the sets of lazy tong bars to all of the brush shafts to cause a corresponding spacing movement therebetween. The brace bars 47 and 48 act to maintain theV jack screw central of the framework at all spacmgs.

As thel brush shafts move toward each other, thereV is a tendency to create a slackening of the chain 33, and as they move away fromeach other` there is a tendency to create a tightening of the chain 33. The chain, howfever, isrnaintainediunder uniform tension atall times by a compensating movement of the second idler shaft 42 under the tensionof'thespring 45t While, the, drawingillustrates six of the brushes 31, itis tobe understood that any-desired number of brushes may he employed, using exactly thesame supporting structure andpower transmissionrmechanism asdeSCribved. If only a small number of brushes are used, the device would be easilyportable and could be manually supported while being run along the widthY of-a conventional Venetian blind while the brushes arerotating under the inuence of the motor 36. lf a large number of the brushes are built into the machine, it could then be suspended from any suitable suspension device connected through suspension openings 53 in the plates M and l5. Fior washing purposes, means could be mounted on either of the plates 14 and 1S for supplying detergent or rinsing solutions to the rotatingbrushes.

The machine has been; illustrated in its fully expanded position. The diameter of thebrushes 31 is preferably such as to substantially equal the widest spacing so that when mQVedtogether for closer spacing, the-bristles will resiliently flex as;I they Contact. the blind slats.

It has been found ditiicult to clean those portions of theslats which are positioned'betweenthe usual suspending ribbons or tapes of a Venetian blind. For'cleaning thesev portions, brush tips 54` of reduced diameter are formed onfthe'brushes; These tips1can be forced between .4 the suspension cords and the suspension tapes of the blinds to clean the portions, of the slats therebetween.

While a specilic form 0f` the improvement has been described and illustrated herein, it is desired to be understood that the same may be varied, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described; theinvention, what is claimed and desired secured by Letters Patent is:

l. A Venetian blind cleaning machine comprising: two upright spaced-apart front bars; two upright spaced-apart rear bars; a iirst series of crossed pairs of lazy tong bars positioned between the spaced-apart front bars; a second series of crossed pairs of lazy tong bars positioned between the spaced-apart rear bars; attachment means between said lazy tong bars and said upright bars, said attachment means allowing relative vertical movement between said lazy tong bars and said upright bars and preventing' relative horizontal movement therebetween; a plurality ofhorizontal, rotatable brush shafts extending between the two series of lazy tong bars in verticallyspacedfrelation, said brush shafts extending between points ofinter-section of the tongbars of oneseries of tong bars andy points of intersection of the tong bars of the other series of tong bars; a brush mounted on one extremity of eachy brush shaft and extending in horizontal parallel relation toeach other; means for adjusting saidrtwo series of: lazy. tong bars vertically to vary the spacing of said brush shafts; and means for simultaneously rotating all of said, brush shafts.

2. A Venetian blind cleaning machine comprising: two uprightV spaced-apart front bars; two upright spaced-apart rear bars; a iirst series of crossed pairs of lazy tong bars positioned between the spaced-apart front bars; a second series of crossed pairs of lazy tong bars positioned between the spaced-apart rear bars; means anchoring one extremity of each series of lazy tong bars to an adjacent upright bar; a bearing bushing extending between each of the points of intersection of the crossed pairs of bars of one series ofV crossed lazy tong bars and eachof the points ofy intersection ofthe crossed pairs of lazy tong bars of the other series of crossed lazy tong bars and forming pivotsfor'the crossed bars; a brush shaft rotatably mounted in each bearing bushing; a brush mounted on the forward extremity of each brush shaft; means for vertically adjusting, the other extremity of each series of lazy tong bars to vary the spacing of said brush shafts; and means for simultaneously rotating all of said brush shafts.

3 A Venetian blind-'cleaning machine comprising: two upright spaced-apart front bars; two upright spaced-apart rear bars; a first series of crossed pairs of lazy tong bars positioned between thespaced-apart front bars; a second Seriesof crossed pairs of lazy tong bars positioned between the spaced-apart rear bars; a bearing bushing extending between each of the points of intersection of the crossed pairs of lazy tong bars of one series of crossed lazy tong bars andeach of the points of intersection of the crossed pairs of lazy tong bars of the other series of crossedlazy tong bars forming pivots for the crossed bars; a hinge shaft extending between one of the front bars and one of the rear bars upon which one sidey of eachseries is hingedly.y suspended; an idler shaft similarly extending betweenthe other front bar and the other rear barupon which the other side of each series is hingedly suspended; a brush shaft rotatably mounted in each bearing-bushing; a brush mounted on the forward extremity of each brush shaft; means for adjusting said two series of lazy tong bars vertically tovary` the spacing of said brush shafts; and meansfor. simultaneously rotating all of' said brush shafts;

4. A Venetianblind` cleaning machine comprising: two

upright spacedfapart front bars; two upright spaced-apart.`

rear bars; aV firstI series of crossed pairs of lazy tong'bars positioned between-the spaced-apart front barsga second series-of crossedpairs offlazy tongbars positioned'between the spaced-apart rear bars; a bearing bushing extending between each of the points of intersection of the crossed pairs of lazy tong bars of one series of crossed lazy tong bars and each of the points of intersection of the crossed pairs of lazy tong bars of the other series of crossed lazy tong bars forming pivots for the crossed bars; a hinge shaft extending between one of the front bars and one of the rear bars upon which one side of each series is hingedly suspended; an idler shaft similarly extending between the other front bar and the other rear bar upon which the other side of each series is hingedly suspended; a brush shaft rotatably mounted in each bearing bushing; a brush mounted on the forward extremity of each brush shaft; an idler sprocket mounted on said idler shaft; a brush sprocket mounted on each brush shaft; an endless transmission chain trained around each of said sprockets; means for adjusting said two series of lazy tong bars vertically to vary the spacing of said brush shafts; and means for driving said chain to Simultaneously rotate all of said sprockets.

5. A Venetian blind cleaning machine comprising: two upright spaced-apart front bars; two upright spaced-apart rear bars; a iirst series of crossed pairs of lazy tong bars positioned between the spaced-apart front bars; a second series of crossed pairs of lazy tong bars positioned between the spaced-apart rear bars; a bearing bushing extending between each of the points of intersection of the crossed pairs of lazy tong bars of one series of crossed lazy tong bars and each of the points of intersection of the crossed pairs of lazy tong bars of the other series of crossed lazy tong bars forming pivots for the crossed bars; a hinge shaft extending between one of the front bars and one of the rear bars upon which one side of each series is hingedly suspended; an idler shaft similarly extending between the other front bar and the other rear bar upon which the other side of each series is hingedly suspended; a brush shaft rotatably mounted in each bearing bushing; a brush mounted on the forward extremity of each brush shaft; an idler sprocket mounted on said idler shaft; a brush sprocket mounted on each brush shaft; an endless transmission chain trained around each of said sprockets; a drive mechanism mounted on certain of said upright bars; a drive sprocket driven by said drive mechanism in engagement with said chain for driving the latter; and means for adjusting said two series of lazy tong bars vertically to vary the spacing of said brush shafts.

6. A Venetian blind cleaning machine comprising: two upright spaced-apart front bars; two upright spaced-apart rear bars; a first series of crossed pairs of lazy tong bars positioned between the spaced-apart front bars; a lsecond series of crossed pairs of lazy tong bars positioned between the spaced-apart rear bars; attachment means between said lazy tong bars and said upright bars, said attachment means allowing relative vertical movement between said lazy tong bars and said upright bars and preventing relative horizontal movement therebetween; a plurality of horizontal, rotatable brush shafts extending between the two series of lazy tong bars in vertically-spaced relation, said brush shafts extending between points of intersection of the tong bars of one series of tong bars and points of intersection of the tong bars of the other sexies of tong bars; a brush mounted on one extremity of each brush shaft and extending in horizontal parallel relation to each other; means for simultaneously rotating all of said brush shafts; pivot shafts connecting the extremities of both lazy tong bars of each pair of bars of both series of bars to the extremities of both lazy tong bars of the adjacent pair of bars of both series of bars, each pivot shaft projecting outwardly from the bars at both its extremities; longitudinal guide grooves formed in said upright bars in which the outwardly projecting extremities of the pivot shafts are slidably received; and means for moving said pivot shafts in their guide grooves for varying the spacing of said brush shafts.

7. A Venetian blind cleaning machine comprising: two upright spaced-apart front bars; two upright spaced-apart rear bars; a lirst series of crossed pairs of lazy tong bars positioned between the spaced apart front bars; a second series of crossed pairs of lazy tong bars positioned between the spaced-apart rear bars; attachment means between said lazy tong bars and said upright bars, said attachment means allowing relative vertical movement between said lazy tong bars and said upright bars and preventing relative horizontal movement therebetween; a plurality of horizontal, rotatable brush shafts extending between the two series of lazy tong bars in vertically-spaced relation, said brush shafts extending between points of intersection of the tong bars of one series of tong bars and points of intersection of the tong bars of the other series of tong bars; a brush mounted on one extremity of each brush shaft and extending in horizontal parallel relation to each other; means for simultaneously rotating all of said brush shafts; pivot shafts connecting the extremities of both lazy tong bars of each pair of bars of both series of bars to the extremities of both lazy tong bars of the adjacent pair of bars of both series of bars, each pivot shaft projecting outwardly from the bars at both its extremities; longitudinal guide grooves formed in said upright bars in which the outwardly projecting extremities of the pivot shafts are slidably received; and a jack screw imparting lateral movement to one of said brush shafts to cause said lazy tong bars to simultaneously transmit lateral movement to the remaining brush shafts.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 687,542 Paehlke Nov. 26, 1901 997,347 Walk July 11, 1911 1,684,631 Lapinoja Sept. 18, i928 1,710,613 Fristoe Apr. 23, 1929 2,246,036 Farrell June 17, 1941 2,516,223 Lowe luly 25, 1950 

